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bike cutting out while riding...

i think to remove the top i may have to take the radiators off. gotta get into the repair manual tonight when i get home from work and see. takin the top off will make having to tap it much easier. but, i will need someone to do that as i will likely fuck it up.
 
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a couple of things . . .

A spark plug should show a STRONG BLUE SPARK when testing out of the engine. If you doubt whether its good enough, replace it. Its easier than all the crap that you may go through chasing down the road.

Carry a new plug with you. When the bike fails, leave the old plug in (for singles), put the plug wire onto the new and turn it over. Make sure that the plug is well grounded on the engine.

Run a fuel filter.

When you drain the tank, just hook up a long fuel line from the petcock to the fuel jug. No more sippin on the hose young man!

Does the bike always fail in the same location? Precisely, what are the circumstances? Under a load goin up a grade?
 
Terdog, the bike is running very well now. I feel like I can say pretty definitively that the new spark plug solved the issue with the bike cutting out on me and me not being able to get it started again.

The problem now is stemming from oil coming out from the top of the case where the bolt won't seat at all. It's ok for just putting along but...........I rarely just putt along:teeth

it is just a very small amount but I want that bolt to be in place like it should be!
 
Remove your valve cover so you can actually see whats going on with that thread. Do not attempt to tap the thread until you can see whats happening.

You may be able to get away with just removing radiator mounting bolts and moving the radiator away with the hoses still attached. If not, it doesn't take much effort to drain and refill if you actually have to remove.

That bolt holds the valve cover onto you head. If you cannot simply clean up the threads with a tap (and lubricate while using the tap), you will need to remove the head and take it to machine shop to have them professionally repair the threads. No need for new cases or a head, but a repair of some degree is obviously needed. That bolt broke off for a reason. Most likely cross threaded and over torqued. You are not going to get a good seal without that bolt. If you are lucky, chasing the threads with a tap will get you going. Worse case, you have a few hours of labor in your garage removing the head and $100 at the machine shop repairing the thread.

To avoid these kinds of repairs, I always install bolts with my hands. If they do not thread in easily by hand, there is something wrong with the thread and I investigate/fix. The previous owner obviously messed up the thread because that bolt will not break off unless installed improperly. Good luck and enjoy the wrenching! :thumbup
 
Shit, I knew it! My landlord has been cool recently, I hope she don't mind the bike sitting a little longer. It's good to have a direction to go in though:thumbup I was gonna post this nearly a week ago cuz I was off work. Now, more civic:(
 
Man that sucks. Hope you get it done within the next 10 days

Good luck!
 
The threads on the old bolt looks good, I couldn't imagine the threads being very damaged and not show any signs on the broken bolt. What exactly does the broken bolt do? Does any of the bolts you have thread in the hole? If the bolts will start you can take one of the bolts and cut slots in the threads with a dremel. Then used this bolt with oil to chase out the threads. In tight areas a tap can be a pain to use, and taps aren't great for chasing blind holes especially if there isn't a lot of thread to chase as most taps have tapered tip for easy starting. I bet some crap got down the hole, blow it out with air.
 
The bolt is just spinning in place. It's not catching the thread at all. That's what is getting me. The broken bolt looks good except for the missing head. It only came loose after I got it back from the shop. The only thing they did that was down there were the valves. I noticed the oil leak the first night when I started it to go home from work. I discovered the source a day or two later.
 
I bet if you just loosen all the bolts up the new one will thread right in. It's one of the main rules for wrenching...never tighten a bolt down until they are all started a few turns.
 
I'm dropping the youngest at school now, and will be headed to the house immediately after to get started. Let's hope it's something that simple:thumbup

:thumbupThanks again guys:thumbup
 
Make sure the rocker shaft is lined up with the hole. The bolt has to go through that to get to the threaded part. If it's cocked a bit it can be hard to get the bolt started.
 
Call me, I have some ideas that may help.
Brian
PS If you forgot, i'm the guy that sold you the bike (650-714-9078)
 
:laughing i did not forget...just trying to man up and get this done. the bike is running great right now. the idle issue is gone and even right after start up it is fine, no need o wait for it to warm up anymore. it's just a bolt that had it's head sheared off(did you do that:laughing) came loose and now the new bolt aint goin into place. hence the last couple of posts...and the next one.
 
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do i need to disconnect this cam lift cable or can i just leave it?


gotta get ready for work, i'll check back in later:thumbup
 
That manual compression cable looks tight, loosen up the tension up top or with the adjustment available on the head, it should have the same slack as a properly adjusted clutch cable, just a tiny bit of free play. Back to my "ideas may help" I think you may simply have liquid lock. If oil seeped out of the the top of the bolt hole, i'm guessing the entire tube where the bolt was is filled with oil. If that's the case it would stop the bolt going down and maybe worse. If you try to bolt down a threaded cavity filled with fluid that has no where to go, it can go Fukushima #4! If you have an air compressor use it to blow out any liquids. Spray aerosol carb clean or brake clean and do it again and again till it's clean. Ghetto version of this move is with Q-Tips, soak them till it's dry.
You never explained how the broken bolt came out? Needle nose pliers, finger nails..
Talk to me.
 
I got it back from the shop and noticed the oil smoking on the exhaust that night. I wiped it off and went home, no big deal. Then again the next day n the day after. I took the fairings off to get a better look and saw the bolt sticking up:wtf ah hah! Pulled it, by hand since it was just sittin there near halfway out of the hole. the bike has been sitting for almost two weeks now.
 
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dumb question...do i have to remove the nut here to get the top off. all bolts removed and the coolant pump removed as well.


edit: i will be ordering new gaskets for everything above the main case $$$ where can i get liquid gasket at???

the gasket for the pump fell apart when i removed it, half of it stuck to the engine and the other half stuck to the pump. is this supposed to happen or is the gasket just really old?
 
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